Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
First off, let me thank everyone for the large volume of email I’ve received regarding the Pandering to Grants blog. Please keep in mind that I do wish to use your comments in these Reader Responses, so let me know if I have your permission to do just that when you take the time to write. Education is always a polarized issue and I’ve not been disappointed at the wide variety …
I’m beginning to hear a regular complaint from orchestra patrons; they’re sick and tired of receiving persistent letters, emails, and phone calls from their local orchestras asking for donations. Here’s a few quotes from some orchestra patrons: “Why should I give more money? I already gave them money, why don’t they learn how to use it better?” “I gave money three separate times this year, but they still say they need …
I was having a conversation with one of my adult piano students today. We were talking about the current situation that exists in many orchestras and what may lie ahead for their future. Toward the end of the conversation she asked, “who really owns the orchestra”. Good question. My belief is that the orchestra is “owned” by those that consume the art: the patrons. I explained that to her in terms …
So why are orchestras having such a financially difficult time right now? We hear the typical explanation from orchestra administrators quite often: The shrinking stock market has reduced endowment income. Severe reductions in corporate, and individual donations. The shrinking economy. Deteriorating ticket sales. At first sight, these all seem like reasonable descriptions behind the problem, but it’s more than that. Although these reasons may be the collective straw that is breaking …
A recent article by Greg Gittrich from the New York Daily News does a wonderful job detailing an all too common problem with a course of action undertaken by orchestra management: pandering to grant money. The article outlines how a $330,000 grant for the Brooklyn Philharmonic to study whether city school kids benefit from regular music classes. What I mean by pandering to grant money, is that orchestras seem to design …